Lower back, upper back, neck and wrists

Cat-Cow: Blocks Under Hands

Provides the same flowing spinal mobility as classic cat-cow while improving your wrist and shoulder positioning, so you can move comfortably and freely.

How to do it

1. 1

   Set a block under each hand on the mat

   Use the flattest setting to begin with. Raising the hands is what changes here; the spine does exactly the same work as it does on the floor.

2. 2

   Come onto all fours with your hands on the blocks

   Shoulders over the hands, hips over the knees. With the hands higher, the wrists sit at a kinder angle and the shoulders have more room.

3. 3

   Breathe in and let the chest open

   Start the movement at the pelvis, let the belly soften and let it travel up the spine. Keep pressing evenly into the blocks so they stay put.

4. 4

   Breathe out and round the back the other way

   Continue the cycle slowly for 60 to 90 seconds. If the wrists still complain, make fists on the blocks, or move to a chair and keep the range small.

What to watch for

Blocks slide on a bare floor and tip if you press their front edge, so keep them on the mat and press straight down through the middle. If anything begins to spread out from your back along a limb while you cycle, stop there.

Ways to adjust it

• Small range
• Chair
• Neutral hold
• Fists if needed

If this one is too much today

Try the gentler version instead. It asks less of you and does much the same work.

• Cat-Cow: Seated Chair

Other ways to do this movement

Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits. See all Cat-Cow versions in one place, ordered from gentlest to strongest.

• Cat-Cow: Classic
• Cat-Cow: Seated Chair
• Cat-Cow: Seated Hands-Free
• Cat-Cow: Small Range
• Cat-Cow: Standing at Wall

Before you try it

Move within a range that stays comfortable. Stop if this brings on sharp pain, dizziness, or symptoms that travel down an arm or a leg, and speak to a clinician before repeating it.

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.